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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 5744579" data-attributes="member: 3820">I don't think people have addressed it because it's usually not a situation, certainly not to the exaggerated examples of "sprout wings and fly, only socially." Charismatic players usually get an advantage because they have better social skills as players. Usually they don't get to rewrite the entire scene. Their advantages are very proportionate to the advantages other players get in other arenas.To put it another way, I think the player who determines "this NPC is very proud, I need to take a tack that flatters him without obviously sucking up" and successfully negotiates a situation is comparable to the player who says "We know there are kobolds around, I'm going to test the floor there with my 10-foot pole." In some groups, being able to detect traps by describing what you're doing is "cheating" since you didn't pay for those skills: in other groups, that's the epitome of desired play.Are they? Do you perceive that the average charismatic player makes mindless skeletons flee by making a really impressive threatening speech? Do you find that it's common that a player with good social skills has a villain weeping in repentance before initiative is even rolled? I don't see that very often.In my experience, charismatic players' advantage is more akin to other, completely approved "player skill" advantages. A charismatic player knows when to be charming and when to be stern; a tactical player knows when to flank an opponent and how best to avoid an opportunity attack. A genre-savvy player knows that he gets good results when he does something dashing in a swashbuckler; a math-talented player ekes more efficiency out of the same resources. These don't obviate die rolls: rather, they're skills at arranging a more profitable situation when the die roll comes.</blockquote>

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